The Boiler Room: One Hour Later

  Amari kicked the door open.

  He stumbled in, the 400-pound pack finally feeling heavy. The room was warm, smelling of coal dust and cheap coffee.

  Kian jumped up from his workbench. He looked at Amari’s blood-spattered vest and the grime covering his face.

  "You're alive," Kian breathed. "The system alert... it said Jace died. I thought..."

  "I'm fine," Amari rasped. He dropped the pack onto the concrete floor. THUD.

  The Custodian (Idris) stepped out of the shadows near the furnace. He looked at Amari with sharp, assessing eyes.

  "Did you get it?" Idris asked.

  Amari didn't speak. He knelt by the pack and popped the false bottom. The lead-lined drawer slid out.

  Inside, glowing with a soft, bioluminescent blue light, were three vials of Star-Moss. Next to them lay the dense, dark slabs of Deep-Stalker meat.

  Idris let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a week.

  "Good," Idris said. "Get her up."

  Amari walked over to the cot.

  Elara was pale. The violet veins had spread to her cheeks. Her breathing was a shallow rattle.

  Amari gently lifted her into a sitting position. Her head lolled against his chest. She was burning up.

  "Elara," Amari whispered. "Wake up. It's time."

  Idris brought a mortar and pestle. He crushed the moss into a thick, glowing paste. He didn't use magic. He mixed it with a pungent, clear liquid from a jar marked industrial solvent.

  "This is not a potion," Idris warned Kian, who was watching closely. "Potions use mana to trick the body. This is chemistry. It rebuilds the insulation on her nerves. The body can finally carry the current without burning."

  Idris handed the cup to Amari.

  "Make her drink. All of it. It will taste like battery acid."

  Amari held the cup to Elara’s lips.

  "Drink," Amari commanded softly.

  Elara’s eyes fluttered open. They were glassy, unfocused. She swallowed instinctively.

  She gagged. "Bitter..."

  "Keep drinking," Amari said.

  She finished the cup.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then, Elara screamed.

  It wasn't a scream of fear. It was a scream of nerves firing all at once. Her back arched, her fingers clawing at Amari’s vest.

  "Hold her!" Idris barked. "The moss is knitting the insulation back together. It is agonizing."

  Amari held her tight, pinning her arms so she wouldn't hurt herself. He felt her muscles spasming against his own.

  "I've got you," Amari murmured into her hair. "I've got you."

  The seizure lasted for a minute. Then, the violet lines on her neck began to fade. The angry purple turned to a bruised blue, then to nothing.

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  Elara gasped, her body going limp. Her breathing deepened. The rattle was gone.

  "She is stable," Idris said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Her channels are reinforced. She can handle her own output now."

  Amari lowered Elara back onto the pillow. He sat on the edge of the cot, his own adrenaline crashing.

  Kian handed him a mug of water. Amari drank it in one gulp.

  "What happened down there?" Kian asked quietly. "The alert said Jace took a critical hit holding the line."

  Amari crushed the paper cup in his hand.

  "Jace took a hit because the Prince froze," Amari said.

  Kian and Idris went still.

  "Caelum had the mana," Amari said, staring at the floor. "He had the spell. He let Jace die because he was afraid the spider would look at him."

  "And the official report?" Idris asked.

  "A lie," Amari said. "Caelum claims it was a magical backlash. I corroborated it."

  "You... you backed him up?" Kian asked, shocked. "Why?"

  "Because if I told the truth," Amari said, "Dean Vance would bury me to protect the school's funding. And I need to stay here."

  "He is right."

  A voice spoke from the corner of the room, near the coal chute.

  Kian yelped and spun around, grabbing a wrench.

  Niko stepped out of the shadows. He wasn't wearing his cloak. He wore a simple grey training uniform.

  "Who is that?" Kian demanded.

  "That's Niko," Amari said tiredly. "He's... new management."

  Niko ignored Kian. He looked at Idris. The Assassin’s eyes widened slightly.

  "The Custodian," Niko said respectfully. "I did not know the Old Guard still held this post."

  Idris looked at Niko. He saw the milky eyes. He saw the way the boy stood—weightless, balanced on the balls of his feet.

  "A Shadow Walker," Idris mused. "I thought your lineage died in the Purge."

  "It did," Niko said. "I am the echo."

  Niko turned to Amari.

  "The Dean does not believe the lie," Niko said. "He accepted it because it is useful. But he watched the biometrics. He saw your heart rate."

  "55 beats per minute," Amari guessed.

  "Flatline," Niko confirmed. "He knows you aren't a Porter. He is already moving pieces."

  Elara stirred on the cot.

  "Jace..." she whispered.

  Amari turned back to her. Her eyes were clear now. Sad, but clear.

  "He's gone, Elara," Amari said gently.

  Tears spilled down her cheeks. "He was... he was nice to me. Even when Caelum was mean. Jace helped me carry my books once."

  Amari nodded. "He was a soldier. He deserved a better commander."

  The room fell silent.

  "What do we do now?" Kian asked, looking at them.

  Amari stood up. He walked over to his pack and pulled out the raw Deep-Stalker meat.

  "We train," Amari said. "Vance is coming for me. Caelum is going to try to erase me to hide his shame. And the System..."

  Amari looked at the ceiling, past the concrete, toward the sky where the Farmer watched.

  "The System is waking up."

  Ping.

  Amari’s wrist chimed.

  Then Kian’s. Then Elara’s.

  It was a global notification. But Amari also received a private priority message.

  [CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENT]

  [MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CADET JACE WILL BE HELD AT SUNSET TOMORROW.]

  [PRIVATE MESSAGE]

  [FROM: DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE]

  [TO: CADET AMARI (F-CLASS)]

  [SUBJECT: MANDATORY TRIBUNAL]

  Amari opened the message.

  [You are hereby summoned to answer regarding safety violations during the Zone 3 Expedition.]

  [CHARGES: NEGLIGENCE LEADING TO DEATH OF A STUDENT.]

  [HEARING: 48 HOURS.]

  Amari showed the screen to the group.

  "He's not wasting time," Niko noted. "He wants to scapegoat you before the autopsy is public."

  "Negligence?" Kian shouted. "You saved them!"

  "It doesn't matter what I did," Amari said, closing the screen. "It matters what they can prove."

  Amari looked at Idris.

  "Can you keep Elara safe while I'm in the tank?"

  "The boiler room is sanctuary," Idris promised. "No one enters without my key."

  "Good."

  Amari picked up a slab of the raw meat.

  "I have 48 hours," Amari said. "I need to hit Stage 2 before I walk into that room."

  "Why?" Elara asked weakly. "Are you going to fight them?"

  Amari smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

  "No," Amari said. "But if they try to execute me... I want to make sure the rope breaks."